The Low-Ranking Civil Servant Wants to Achieve Success Chapter 71

Just then, lunchtime ended, and the other employees began to flood in.

“Here.”

I tapped Keyvon on the shoulder and said,

“Let’s get to work. Since we came in early.”

“Work, you say…”

“I need to write a threatening letter—no, an official notice.”

When I beamed, Keyvon flinched.

I raised an eyebrow and added,

“To the Minister of Education.”

It was obvious that the Minister of Education must be trembling right now.

With Reden arrested, how anxious must he be?

‘Anyway, after suffering some more mental torment…’

I grinned as I began drafting the notice.

‘In the end, he needs to become bait for me.’

The Minister of Education.

Surprisingly, he was someone who genuinely believed he was working for the imperial family and the empire.

And…

‘He’s also someone who was scouted by the organization behind this war. He’s declined for now, though.’

In the original story, the Minister of Education only joins the secret organization much later, after the downfall of the imperial family.

But it had been written that he’d received offers for a long time.

‘Still, the fact that he didn’t report it to the imperial family when first approached… That alone is proof he was conflicted.’

The Minister was the kind of slippery character who turned a blind eye to Reden’s deeds while always looking for a way to withdraw.

So it was only natural that he wasn’t moving right now.

But if he were given a reason—something to provoke him?

‘Then he would move!’

If I just trailed him carefully, it meant I could potentially uncover the organization behind everything.

It seemed like something I could handle with Kiaros later.

‘Maybe this is why I became a minister—to be able to move this freely.’

There was so much I could do.

With knowledge of the future and now the power to act, there was nothing standing in my way.

I had to press my fingers to my lips to hide the smile rising again.

Keyvon tilted his head as he looked over the document I was preparing for the Minister of Education.

“What kind of official notice is this?”

“Oh, a cooperation request.”

“You’re seriously requesting this kind of unreasonable cooperation from the Ministry of Education?”

“Yup.”

If I pushed such an outrageous request, the Minister would surely flinch.

‘Does she know I’m involved too? Is this a threat?’ He wouldn’t be able to sleep from the anxiety.

“He definitely has something weighing on him.”

“Ha… Don’t tell me even the Minister of Education…”

“Hmm?”

“Nothing.”

Keyvon muttered like he couldn’t believe it.

Then for a while, only the soft sound of pen on paper filled the minister’s office.

Sadly, the Scroll Department always had too much work.

“Please take care of it, Keyvon.”

I handed over a pile of documents onto his desk.

“It’ll get easier when Victor arrives. He should be here tomorrow or the day after, so just hang in there until then.”

Keyvon didn’t say anything. He seemed slightly displeased.

Was he really a workaholic?

So I stacked a few more files on top.

‘See? I’m such a kind person. Huh? Wait a sec.’

I paused, rolling my eyes in thought.

Keyvon said he liked warm people!

‘Don’t tell me… does he like me?’

Anastasia immediately dismissed me as a candidate, but actually, I had the highest probability.

Because Keyvon didn’t talk to anyone else on staff.

‘And earlier, he stepped in front of me without hesitation.’

The man chasing me was covered in blood.

Keyvon didn’t even know who Reden was, so he could’ve easily thought a dangerous criminal was after me.

Yet he stepped in without a moment’s hesitation.

Most people would instinctively step back in that situation, right?

‘Could it really be me?’

His ideal type might be far from me, but ideals are just ideals. The woman who really captures one’s heart could be someone entirely different.

‘No matter how rudely I act, he just says it’s okay…’

I reflected on myself again.

Just because he was the first person I felt comfortable around, I’d held his hand without warning and even cornered him against a tree. If Osone had done that to me, I would’ve reported him for harassment immediately.

‘Thinking about it… there’s definitely a chance.’

Hmm, if Keyvon actually liked me…

“Keyvon.”

I called him without much thought, and he immediately looked up at me.

Those pitch-black eyes calmly focused on me.

“When your superior calls, you should respond.”

“Yes.”

As soon as I pointed it out, he obediently did as told again.

At first, I thought he was arrogant, but now I was casually bossing him around without a second thought.

‘Yeah, he’s the only guy I treat this comfortably.’

He was my first subordinate, so I had no one to compare him to.

But I still didn’t know much about Keyvon.

If I were to consider him as a potential partner, I needed to know more.

‘Of course, he’s a foreigner, so cultural differences might make things a bit tricky. But I can teach him—no big deal.’

Aside from matters of war, I was more logical than emotional. So I usually analyzed things with reason first before checking in with my feelings.

So I asked Keyvon out of the blue:

“What’s your biggest flaw?”

If we were going to spend time together, flaws were more important than strengths.

But trying to figure them out myself was inefficient.

Considering Keyvon’s inflexible personality, he’d probably tell me honestly—so it was best to ask directly.

“My biggest flaw?”

He didn’t even ask why—just answered right away.

“I’m not sure.”

Keyvon’s flaw: he didn’t self-reflect.

As I pondered that, he continued.

“But according to those I trained with…”

“Training? You’ve been through that?”

“Yes.”

Well, he does have the body of someone who works out.

As I looked at him curiously, he explained,

“No one would say anything bad about me to my face, but during training, you have no choice but to talk about weaknesses.”

“Ah, right. True.”

I’d seen the imperial palace knights training in passing.

They’d spar, then discuss each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

“A recurring opinion I heard was… that I lack self-restraint.”

“What?”

I widened my eyes in surprise at that unexpected answer.

“Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-What?!”

Outside, Anastasia practically shrieked.

“I-Isn’t that His Highness the Prince?!”

A visit from the prince—completely unexpected.

“My goodness.”

I looked out the window, and sure enough, there was Jayden. I furrowed my brow in mild surprise.

‘I figured he’d come looking for me soon… but to show up at the office himself?’

Even if Jayden was young, this was enough to make anyone nervous.

Everyone in the department, myself included, shot to their feet.

Everyone but Keyvon, that is—who remained seated, eyes still on the documents.

‘Is he out of his mind?’

I jabbed him with my elbow and glared. But he didn’t even budge. He just stared suspiciously at Jayden.

Meanwhile, Anastasia, stammering more than usual, shouted,

“W-W-W-Would you like some coffee?”

Jayden folded his arms and replied, utterly dumbfounded:

“You want to give a high-caffeine drink to an eight-year-old whose brain is still developing? Did you leave your intelligence at home today? Or throw your common sense in the trash? If you’re going to keep offering coffee to a kid, why don’t you jump in the trash can yourself?”

Keyvon dropped the pen he was holding with a loud clack as he stared at the knife-tongued brat.

Well, it was his first time seeing the prince.

Jayden wasn’t called a “hopeless little monster” behind his back for nothing.

The only people in the palace who didn’t know about Jayden’s personality were probably the palace guards.

Jayden raised his chin and demanded,

“Never mind that. Where’s the Scroll Minister?”